In pursuit of power relations :|fictional translators in the Turkish novels

Abstract

This thesis explores the power dynamics of fictional translators in the contemporary Turkish novel and focuses on three novels, Yerçekimi by Fatih Balkış, Zafiyet Kurami by Ersan Üldes and Mütercim by Alper Gürkan in order to analyse the employment of power in different contexts with an eye to translator’s translational activities and attitudes towards the relavant power. Using the terms “fictional turn” in Translations Studies, and “power” of Michel Foucault, this study reveals that literary texts suggest valuable insights into the position of translators within a given society and demonstrates that authorities with power win out over translators who are, in the end, turned into victims of their act of translation. And this study establishes a dialogue between fictional translators in contemporary Turkish novels and theoretical discourse, so power relations and translation-related activities in these three novels are examined to see how the power domain of translators has been defined and powered down in the presence of power as well as to determine how these characters fit into relevant translation and literary theories, with a focus on feminist discourse, authorship and ideology, respectively.